LEBANON, Tenn. -- Trey Rakes, Antwine Baker and Darrion Leslie poured in 17 points each to lead the 12th-ranked University of Pikeville men's basketball team to an 84-59 win at Cumberland on Saturday to improve the Bears' winning streak to seven games.

For Baker, the 17 points are a season high as he shot 6 of 9 from the field, making two threes and all three of his free-throw attempts. Leslie grabbed 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double and Rakes went 7 of 9 from the field with three triples.

Desmond Medder, while scoring just one points, showed up in other ways with eight boards and four steals. UPIKE (18-3, 4-2 MSC) ended up with a 37-33 lead on the glass and outshot the Phoenix 52.4 to 45.1 percent. However, the Bears did struggle from the stripe for the second straight game, making just 10-of-23 attempts.  

Twenty-five points is the largest margin of victory for UPIKE in a Mid-South Conference game since topping Lindsey Wilson 98-63 at home last January.

Diondrey Holt Jr., led all scorers with 21 points for Cumberland (8-9, 1-4 MSC), including hitting three straight 3-pointers early in the second half.

HOW IT WENT DOWN  

Jordan Perry got a layup off the tip, Rakes hit a 15-foot jumper and Baker scored on a put back to make it 6-0 before two minutes were off the clock. The early lead was still seven points when Cumberland eventually got things going for a 6-0 run of its own.

It stayed close after that for the next few minutes until the Phoenix grabbed their first lead at 19-18 on an offensive board and put back by Telvin Wilkerson. That ended up being the only time UPIKE trailed in the half as it scored the next five points, including a three from Clint Nwosuh to make it 23-19.

With about six minutes left in the half, the Bears seemed to get tired of Cumberland hanging around. With Baker scoring 10 of the points, UPIKE went on a 15-0 run to lead by 18 with 43 seconds on the clock. Rhyan Townes ended the run with a three, but the damage had been done as the Bears took a 45-30 lead into halftime.  

The good vibes from the end of the half didn't continue for UPIKE immediately as the Phoenix outscored it 8-2 in the first 1:30 of the second 20 minutes. The early run ended up being a bit of fool's gold as nine points was as close the Phoenix would get the rest of the day.

By the 15:41 mark the UPIKE lead was back out to 16 points on a steal and drive by Rze Culbreath. Cumberland briefly got within 10 at 62-52, but a 9-2 UPIKE run followed over the next six minutes to get it to its largest lead yet of 21 points.

Rakes and Chase Parsley added 3-pointers in the final 1:30 to get to the final 25-point margin.

UP NEXT

UPIKE has a week off before staying on the road at Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky., at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday.

-UPIKE-